Fighting Parkinson’s, and giving gratitude

Last week, my blog post was about updates regarding my book, Fighting Parkinson’s…and Winning. One of the things included in that post was a request to those of you who have read the book to please go on Amazon and place a rating and write a review. My book ratings and reviews have gone from 19 to 27 in one week. I am grateful to all of you for taking the time to do this. While I am on the topic of gratitude, let’s talk about a new way to give gratitude.

Gratitude is very important in life. In my recovery, I became so grateful for this gift of life that I simply stopped caring about the Parkinson’s and started caring more about giving gratitude and getting back into life. I am grateful to all of you who are here reading this blog, doing the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®, and fighting the good fight. Again, for those of you who have put ratings and reviews of my book on Amazon to help promote our cause to get out the message of hope that Parkinson’s is curable, thank you very much. I am grateful.

Today, I am going to write about a different kind of gratitude of which I have not written in the past. The concept came about last Friday on a coaching call. As I was encouraging the person with periods of increasing symptoms to not worry about the future, that if he was doing the Recipe he was getting better, he posed to me a question that probably has crossed every one of your minds: “How am I supposed to not worry about the future when these Parkinson’s symptoms are in the forefront of my life all the time and sometimes they are increased symptoms?”

The next thing I knew, out of my mouth came, “Have you ever considered giving gratitude to the Parkinson’s?” The individual seemed surprised, and I was equally surprised as this was the first time I had heard those words come out of my mouth. I realized that the message we were getting was for him and for me to share with all of you.

I continued, “If you are going to be thinking about Parkinson’s all day long, why not change the conversation with gratitude.
When your tremors increase, instead of fearing that this means something bad in the future, say, ‘Thank you Parkinson’s for teaching me that increased tremors means that I am increasing my internal energy as I move closer to my recovery.’
When your stiffness increases, instead of having frustration or fear, say, ‘Thank you Parkinson’s for forcing me to learn that sometimes when my energy shifts in my body, I will have increased stiffness.”
When you get stuck walking, instead of fearing the worst, say, “Thank you Parkinson’s for showing me that if I am calm and encouraging to myself, I can ease into taking another step.’
When you are feeling more pain, instead of being upset, anxious or fearful, say, ‘Thank you Parkinson’s for showing me that my brain is talking to my nerve endings because if it was not connected well, I would not be experiencing pain.'”

This is a list that continues to grow as each of you is an individual who is having Parkinson’s symptoms exhibit themselves to you in a way that is personal to you. The idea is that if you are giving gratitude to Parkinson’s each time a symptoms increases, it releases your dopamine and calms your mind so you are not engaged in worry and fear of the future.

Here are some additional general gratitude statements for your Parkinson’s:

Thank you Parkinson’s for slowing me down so I can have a chance to get out of adrenaline mode.
I am grateful to you Parkinson’s for teaching me that I needed to eat healthier foods.
I am grateful to you Parkinson’s for helping me get my priorities in life back in order.
Thank you Parkinson’s for forcing me to learn Medical Qigong and the Recipe exercises so I can heal my organs.
Thank you Parkinson’s for showing that I needed to learn how to meditate to calm my over-thinking mind.
I am grateful to you Parkinson’s for making me so physically miserable that you have forced me to spend more time talking to my Higher Power.
Thank you Parkinson’s for teaching me how out of balance I had become, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Thank you Parkinson’s for forcing me to learn acceptance and surrender.
Thank you Parkinson’s for teaching me to be grateful for the assistance others are providing me.
I am grateful to you Parkinson’s for showing me that I needed to give up my old rights of to be angry, frustrated, resentful, worrisome, fearful, stressful, anxious, unforgiving, critical, and self-critical.
I am grateful to you Parkinson’s for teaching me that I was entitled to have my new rights of joy, happiness, fearlessness, compassion, contentment, love, acceptance, forgiveness, and gratitude.
Thank you Parkinson’s for leading me down the path least traveled where I have the opportunity to learn to love myself, accept myself for the special person who I am, and to cure myself from a disease most others incorrectly think is incurable. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

To each and every one of you, thank you. I am grateful you are here on this blog and that we all are traveling down the path to your recoveries together, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, tears in our eyes, and smiles on our faces. Let’s be grateful for our lives together.

Everything you said is correct! Before this blog post arrived and in the previous weeks, I have been thinking about how I allowed this Parkinson’s situation to crowd out things that I should have been kept in the front. I discovered that I was neglecting God and my spiritual life. I have not done the things that give me joy such as knitting and sewing. Therefore, I have begun to do these things and more. Me doing more things that increase my joy and contentment has not caused me to neglect the Parkinson’s situation. It has actually become easier.

Wow! To thank Parkinson! Mr. Adversity! And when we add God to the mix, we are on the way to contentment and joy here on earth, and in heaven. In the Word of God/Bible we read…. “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” -James 1:2-3. You are right on, Howard! You have a new way of assuring us that…. “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me” -Philippeans 4:13.
Thank you, Howard

Thank you, J, for highlighting how the Bible validates many of the principles in the Recipe. I have been noticing for years similarities in what scripture teaches and what Howard teaches regarding getting out of our minds and into our hearts, forgiveness, compassion, gratitude, and faith, to name a few. That’s what makes the recipe effective. That’s what keeps me going! God bless you and every one of us.

I will try to be grateful for Parkinson’s but I know it won’t be easy
after treating it with distaste for so long.
As far as your book goes I don’t know when I will get done because
on page 120 and 121, I became so overwhelmed with joy that you were
walking with God that I put the book up and have been absorbing it
ever sense.

This message has come through, loud and clear in our conversations. I accept that if I hadn’t gotten Parkinson’s I would not have taken the steps I’m taking to realign my priorities and values, and appreciate what I do have. I’m becoming more loving, I’m grateful for that and present to the access this is giving me to getting everything I ever wanted from life.

There is a saying “we should care for our thoughts while we are alone, and care for our words when we are with others”. Gratitude is a feeling as much as a thought and has a profound affect on how we manage our symptoms. I catch myself out throughout the day focusing on my symptoms but don’t always feel gratitude. So thank you Howard for the timely reminder. I am sure what we think affects how we feel. But bit by bit we will eventually succeed. Attitude is everything. Blessings to you Howard.
“The butterfly is proof that beauty can emerge out of something falling apart”

Hi guys, great post Howard, love it.
Waseema beautiful poem last week.
Berni thank you for your msg last week. I refuse to let parky win by buying a kindle as I’m a huge book lover and have ever loved the energy a book brings. It’s the same for me with writing. Everyone keeps telling me to buy a dictaphone but bad as my writing is, there is an energy in putting pen to paper, it’s like my soul takes over and the tremor calms when I write. Hope you’re doing well Berni.
Pippa thank you for your msg last week. Yes breathing through the challenges is very helpful. Hope you are doing well.
Great to see so many new people posting. Be lovely to see some new faces to go with the name.
It’s mad but although my parky is raging at the moment, I feel it’s coming to an end. My son feels I’m nose diving by the day as my symptoms are so bad but I’m starting to feel strongly a strength I never had. I feel the energy and guidance of my soul taking over. I’m doing a lot of soul work through the guidance of ” A course in miracles” . Addy posted a quote from the book a few months ago which made me dig my copy out. It’s like a bible so easy to manage for my challenges right now. The Recipe is my daily must do to function and ACIM my spiritual fix.
Big love to all warriors old and new. Karen xx

Hi Everyone, It is Sunday now, my husband Rick, who has the PD, and I read the blog post every Thursday that it comes out, and now I need to reread this post again to him, since he just commented this morning, “I have a new symptom showing up”, I said “what’s that”. He said his right leg was slowing up more. I right away thought that was wonderful as energy is moving and opening up, the slowing was a blockage point, but it would be clearing.

I could see his mind might be doing something different than my mind, and he was more fearful of the changing symptom! So we are in the routine of every morning after breakfast, we sit down and I read aloud the blog or the rereading of Howard’s book. Today, we were rereading the book and on page 23 which is going into “what does everything that looks unfavorable going on with my body actually mean?” “It means I am getting better” Perfect timing and so Grateful, just what Rick needed to hear again! Now time to reread last Thursday’s blog again and all your comments here for him also!

As I read, I always come up with other ideas that he might be able to think of and I tell him so if it resonates, he can use them as helpful tools. One is, he loves to do puzzles on the ipad and I told him, that is just like his healing work as he is moving the scrambled puzzle pieces around, some fit and stay there, some don’t and he has to keep moving them to find the spot and soon it starts to come into focus and the pieces get easier to find their place and complete the puzzle and see the picture it is and that is like his body and the medical quigong healing that is moving around and soon finding all the clearing and healthy moving energy for the body. And he will find the scrambled Rick getting all the pieces moved around and balanced back out to the healthy Rick!! Grateful!

Another one I shared with him is, he loves to wash our vehicles, he is a car guy, so when his truck is dirty and he starts to wash with the sponge, first the wet dirt makes more mess as it loosens from the water and soap and slowly it all gets wet and messy, but when the hose rinses it down, it washes clean, runs down to the wheel and he needs to do the process there too, but it is all coming clean. He will dry it off and he knew the final result would be a clean truck and that is like his body too, that he can think of being grateful he knew the truck would be clean, and when he is done with the recipe, his body will be healed. Grateful!

Howard had also given him a picture to reflect on as Rick is building a 1963 Chevy truck project, that as he has taken it down to the frame and redoing all the parts with painting and chroming, that as the process goes, it is getting better and better and Rick knows the final outcome is going to be one very beautiful rebuild 1963 Chevy Truck! Grateful! Just like his work and healing through the recipe. Grateful!

So lots of ways we can relate things and events in our lives to see it is just like the healing of the body. Do your recipe, be grateful, you are all worth it!! Whether you are a dirty truck, a scrambled puzzle or a 1963 Chevy truck, I pray for you all with your healing, Lori